Becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah marks the beginning of an exciting period that influences the entire family – the young man or woman becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the siblings, and also the parents!  In order to move through this period successfully, parents need to be open and sensitive to the process the child is undergoing.  Jewish sources provide deep understanding into this process, insights that foster conversation, open the heart, and enable new and refreshing perspectives to blossom and flourish.  

From our many experiences accompanying children and their families on this journey, we realize how important it is to relate also to the parental perspective.  We therefore have developed a four-part series for the parents of Bar and Bat Mitzvah students.  In our sessions we deal with the following topics:

 
  • The tension between the child's budding independence and the close relationship with him/her that we want to continue to strengthen
     
  • Changing ways of relating to an adolescent with ideas of his/her own versus a young, naïve child

  • The parents' readiness to change and grow in order to allow each family member to find his/her place anew in the family, creating a new balance within the family unit.
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